The Sign
Last night, I had gone to pick up my tickets. While returning it was slightly drizzling and in front of my bike there was an auto-rickshaw. On the back of this highly volatile piece of automobile, there was a stencil-sign that said "BLACK SMOKE THE LUNGS CHOKE". I wouldn't have really bothered about this not so unusual grammatical error. It is always bound to happen in a place like India. The real reason is that this is not the first time I'm seeing this sign on an Auto; Thats a short form for auto-rickshaw; and the probability of accidentally seeing the same auto in a city like bangalore is unlikely. This sign is a popular one. Maybe the guy who erroneously made this stencil has to be kicked on his balls. But then its a nice way of educating our society on Pollution. Which also makes you wonder why it wasn't done in the local language. Maybe it's there and since I do not know kannada I wouldn't be knowing. There are many autos in various cities that sport similar signs. "Pennukku Thirumana vaydhu 21" - Tamil for "Ideal age for Girl's marriage is 21" (Due to practices on child marriage that still exists in some parts of this country) and "Speed thrills But kills" are a few examples. Whatever it is, "Black Smoke The Lungs Choke" really is atleast an eye-catcher thanks to its grammatical error and a rap-song touch.